What did you do with your Tundra or Sequoia this weekend? (6 Viewers)

Bryanseye · Jul 8, 2017

Couldn't find one of these threads here so I am starting one.

Loaded up the family and took the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville to the Heintooga Ridge Road loop, then through Great Smokey Mountain National Park and into Gatlinburg. I don't think the kids know how spoiled they were traveling through this landscape. Saw a few elk which is a big deal for this southern flat lander, and got to use the CDL when I pulled off the road to let a horse trailer go by and felt the rear passenger wheel slip into a deep rut. No drama, the front wheels pulled the rear right out.

4mydogs · Jul 10, 2017

Is that the one-way road that starts near the Blue Ridge Parkway and goes down, down, down and comes out near Cherokee? I think my wife and I took that road during a long weekend near Cherokee in our first trip in our Sequoia. Heard about it from a Park Ranger. We didn't start it until about an hour before sunset, though, and so we did a good amount of it in dusky and dark conditions. My wife was hearing banjos in her head, I think...

What did I do with mine last weekend? Washed it, and paste waxed the front half. Heat index was around 106 and I left the rear half for next time.

Bryanseye · Jul 10, 2017

4mydogs said:
Is that the one-way road that starts near the Blue Ridge Parkway and goes down, down, down and comes out near Cherokee? I think my wife and I took that road during a long weekend near Cherokee in our first trip in our Sequoia. Heard about it from a Park Ranger. We didn't start it until about an hour before sunset, though, and so we did a good amount of it in dusky and dark conditions. My wife was hearing banjos in her head, I think...

What did I do with mine last weekend? Washed it, and paste waxed the front half. Heat index was around 106 and I left the rear half for next time.

You are correct!

weejub · Jul 14, 2017

Gotta go look up your route now! Great pics and sounds like a fun time

weejub · Jul 14, 2017

The BRP literally ends/starts there in Cherokee?

Bryanseye · Jul 14, 2017

weejub said:
The BRP literally ends/starts there in Cherokee?

Yes.

hh4whiskey · Jul 19, 2017

Nice trip. Nice area.

I just bought a 2015 CrewMax TSS and am counting down to delivery.

Nay · Jul 26, 2017

Drove it up to the microwave tower on Peak 10 in Breck. Did some skiing and mountain biking along the way. There are some very tight switchbacks on the upper section and I was impressed how easily it handled them without 3 point turns.

This one put a tire in the air, but it drove through. The 34" (285/75/17) Falken AT3W worked well and in a couple of trips I'm satisfied that for trail work (not crawling) they fit without interference (after BFH pinch weld mod and caster work with SPC UCA).

4mydogs · Jul 27, 2017

Nay said:
Drove it up to the microwave tower on Peak 10 in Breck. Did some skiing and mountain biking along the way. There are some very tight switchbacks on the upper section and I was impressed how easily it handled them without 3 point turns.

This one put a tire in the air, but it drove through. The 34" (285/75/17) Falken AT3W worked well and in a couple of trips I'm satisfied that for trail work (not crawling) they fit without interference (after BFH pinch weld mod and caster work with SPC UCA).

Nice! I'm on the east coast and always envious of the opportunities for off roading you guys out west have. I don't know how the first and second gen Sequoias compare on this, but I've had mine for 3 years now and its tight turning radius still surprises me.

Nay · Jul 28, 2017

4mydogs said:
Nice! I'm on the east coast and always envious of the opportunities for off roading you guys out west have. I don't know how the first and second gen Sequoias compare on this, but I've had mine for 3 years now and its tight turning radius still surprises me.

For tight switchback trails, I honestly didn't notice much difference to my 80. I think the tight radius is probably part of what makes fitting larger tires difficult despite the wheel well size, but it plays nicely in open spaces.

Here's a pic of those switchbacks looking down and the 80 in the same spot as the pic above.

Nothing major here wheeling-wise (although it is over 13K feet) but I've never seen a full size up top before. Fairly stoked about this since a big rig is such a boon for deeper trailhead access (away from the masses) that has technical aspects but isn't just a day of crawling.